Late surge propels Women's Basketball over Linfield College
MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – The University of Dallas women's basketball team (4-2) defeated Linfield College (5-3) on Saturday evening, 61-46. Dallas captured its first road victory on the campaign and held its opponent to a season-low.
It was a close contest until the final 6:57 minutes swung in favor of the Lady Crusaders, who finished things on a 16-2 run.
Both teams exchanged leads throughout the first half with neither pulling away by more than four points, which was the Wildcats at one juncture. LC's Quincey Gibson's jumper as time expired at the end of the stanza lifted the home team up 28-27.
Many dry spells marred the contest, with about three minutes of scoreless action occurring twice. The longest shooting drought occurred midway through the opening 20 minutes, and lasted until LC's Amantha Hood with 5:46 ended the stretch. It was an even lengthier stretch for her team, as it was the Wildcat's first field goal since the 12:04 point.
Out of the break, Dallas took the lead on a pair of free throws from senior Marleyna Bustamante (Donna, Texas). The first five minutes featured a few more points traded before the navy and white gained control and held its largest edge of five points at that point of the affair.
On the night, the game featured eight ties and 10 lead changes for the two squads.
Freshman Michelle DeCoud (Monument, Colo.) picked up right where she left off Friday night, matching her season-high on back-to-back games with 17 points. The rookie forward was a rebound shy of her second double-double in as many nights, too.
Bustamante produced solid results contributing 13 points, while sophomore Sammy Tso (Las Vegas, Nev.) completed the trio of double figure scorers with 11. Senior Brooke Hagemann (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and sophomore Holly Tonry (Seattle Wash.) added seven apiece.
Saturday night's victor also claimed 16 points on second chances and 19 from the bench, with 17 coming from the team's leading scorer, DeCoud. She also notched an impressive 8-of-9 shooting percentage in field goals.
UD shot 37.5-percent from the floor and forced 17 turnovers compared to the Wildcats hitting 31.7-percent and making their opponent give it away 12 times.
The team held a rebounding edge 44-41. Behind DeCoud was Hagemann with eight while Tonry and Bustamante each posted seven.
For Linfield, Hood was the lone player to break double-digits scoring 10 times and matched three players for a team-best, eight rebounds.
Next Opponent:
Dallas enjoys most of the month off with its next contest slated on December 30 at Sul Ross State. First tip is at 2 p.m. and is replacing the cancelled Dallas Christian College Match-up from earlier this year.